Licorice Parfait with Lime Syrup

So impressed by the licorice parfait dessert I had at Glass Brasserie, I knew I had to try and replicate it at home. It is a stunning dessert that’s simple yet elegant and guaranteed to draw huge amounts of praise from your guests (as I discovered at our dinner party the other night). For me personally, this dessert married two of my favourite flavours, resulting in a taste sensation that I can only describe as a cold, creamy Sherbet Fountain without the fizz but insurmountably more satisfying.

A lot of people may be put off by the idea of using licorice in a dessert and they’d be forgiven as I’ve always been less than impressed with the various licorice flavoured offerings from your typical ice creameries. However this parfait is sure to change the minds of the most ardent of the anti-aniseed brigade. I sourced the recipe easily online (Chef’s Pencil) and enjoyed reading the preface written by Luke Mangan. It’s clearly one of his favourite recipes and perhaps as such he was kind enough to respond to my tweet about making the parfait, advising that I use a particular confectioner’s licorice. Given this heads-up by the man himself, I simply had to make this dessert!

The recipe itself isn’t too hard as long as you can make a sabayon. A lot of people may down their cooking tools at this stage (I considered it) but it’s certainly a skill worth honing (says she who hasn’t quite perfected it…). A sabayon on its own is a spoonful of poetry. Fortunately for me I have a Thermomix and I remembered George Calombaris making a sabayon with one. A quick search found me Mr Thermomixer’s blog about TMX’ing up a sabayon. He has a fantastic, easy to follow sabayon recipe for the Thermomix which I had no trouble adapting for my parfait. If you can get over the sabayon hurdle (and succeed in not eating this sublime Pernod mix), the rest of the parfait recipe is pretty easy. I recommend making the parfait at least the night before it is required as you want it as cold as possible before nudging them out of their mould. The joy is in the cold, chewiness of the parfait, not a soft puddle! The lime syrup can be made up well ahead of time as can any tuille accompaniment so time can be freed up for other dinner party preparations.

The verdict? You really understand why something is a signature dish; it literally stops people in their tracks in order to comment. As I was serving a fairly standard entree and main, I knew I had to wow the crowd with dessert. This licorice parfait did just that and everything tasted just as though it came out of Glass’ kitchen. Sadly I didn’t have enough time to make a good batch of tuille so used Manner wafers (to be honest, the parfait doesn’t need it – it’s more a visual finishing touch). I’ll be making this again for sure. Licorice Parfait with Lime Syrup Ingredients For the Lime Syrup

250 grams (8.9 oz) sugar

250ml (8.5 fluid oz) water

Juice & rind of 1 lime (I needed the juice of two limes as they were small… taste and see)

2 tbsp Pernod (it’s worth investing in a bottle as you’ll make this again. Trust me!)

To make the lime syrup: Bring the sugar and water to the boil, stirring to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat & add the lime juice and the rind to taste. Stir well & refrigerate. To make parfait: In a small saucepan combine the cream & licorice & heat gently, without boiling, until the licorice is very soft. Blend the mixture in the Thermomix (a quick but good blast on Speed 7/8) or food processor until well combined. Pour through a fine sieve to strain out the tiny pieces of licorice (very important!) then set aside to cool. For the sabayon, if you don’t have a Thermomix, please refer to original recipe via link above. Otherwise, place caster sugar in the TM bowl and place the butterfly over the blades. Add egg and yolk then beat for 4 minutes at 50°C on speed 3. Add glucose and pernod and beat for around 3 minutes at 80°C on speed 3. Allow to cool. Do not eat sabayon ;) Once cooled, fold half of the sabayon into the licorice mixture and then remaining sabayon until well combined. Pour into individual moulds and freeze. Makes about six/seven 150ml portions.

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20 Comments

Oh my gastromonical goddess! Are you kidding me? This is OUTSTANDING!!! I can not wait to try it. I will have the occasion soon, as I am hosting an event here in the coming days. It’s been a long time since I’ve had Pernod in the house, but this is just the occasion for it. THANK YOU (and of course, I’m adding it to my blog’s list of inspiring recipes to try with Thermomix.)
Cheers,
H.

Aww shucks Helene :) Thanks. Luke Mangan is the genius behind this gorgeous treat but I was amazed how easy the process became by using the TMX. Even blitzing the cream and licorice drew out more flavour and colour than a standard food processor would have done :) Hope you try it!

Hi there… me again ;-)
I’m planning to make this later today or tomorrow and wondering what type of cream you used? I checked the original recipe and it also just says “cream”. Given the many different creams available to us… can you tell me what % cream you used? Whipping cream (34%), or table cream (18%) or…?
Thanks Moni!

It’s so interesting how cream differs from country to country. Someone needs to post a comparison chart! I used whipping cream (single cream?) which definitely has more than 18% fat (I believe it hovers around 33-34%). It’s what turns into butter in the Thermomix :D
As for the licorice – the brand I was recommended is called Darrell Lea here in Australia. A mild licorice and soft. Let me know how you go!

Moni!
I made this last night with a couple of “personalization” and it was an absolute hit! Yipee… am doing the happy dance here! I didn’t get your comment about the creme until after I’d done the recipe, so because I was unsure, I blended two creams together for this first attempt… I did half 18% cream and half 33% cream. There was some separation as it froze, but this did not, not, not detract from the end result. Next time (very soon) I will try it again with full cream to see what happens. Will blog about my results as soon as I get a chance….
Thanks again!

Hey Helene. Sorry if I wasn’t clear with my creams before. I meant to definitely use cream that is 30+%. In Australia that sort of cream is used for whipping. Anything less probably has too much water and might produce icier parfaits. Of course, it would still taste great :)
Look forward to your blog about it!

I tried this parfait on Sunday at Luke Mangans Salt Grill restaurant while onboard Pacific Pearl. I am so glad I found the recipe for it. It is fabulous and I definately will be giving this a go. Darrel Lea is also what I had in mind. I look forward to making and eating this for myself. Cheers

I made the liquorice parfait on Sunday and ate it on Moday. It was fabulous! Never having made a sabayon before, or even seeing one made I was a little anxious to begin with. But I think I did ok. The only thing I did differently was to the syrup. I thickened it more than the recipe stated (deliberately) and right at the end I added segmented lime. That made a great difference. Only regret I have is I didn’t take any photos. Oh well….next time.

Hi, I also had this dessert on the Pacific Pearl at the Salt Grill Restaurant. I don`t have a Thermomix, so can I still try making it? Also what is a Sabayon? It is such a YUMMY Dessert! Thanks Narelle…:)

Wow! Lucky you to eat Luke Mangan’s gorgeous food AND be on a cruise :) Hope you enjoyed. My post should have a link to Luke’s original recipe which doesn’t use the Thermomix. The process of making sabayon is trickiest over the stove but not impossible. Sabayon is a egg whip that is wonderfully light and creamy. Hope you can try and make it :)

My mum and I have had a few goes at perfecting this desert. We have a Bellini ( cheaper version of TMX, from Target AUST) We are proud to say that each one was better, quicker and easier than the other. We are now convinced this is not only the nicest desert but the quickest and easiest, with the help of the Bellini of course!! We melted the licorice and the cream together in the Bellini for 13 minutes, speed 3, 80 degrees. After 13 minutes we blitzed it on speed 7 for 10 seconds. Perfection!! (No standing at the stove stirring forever)
The only thing we didn’t think was right was the separation between the Sabayon and the cream and licorice combo once we combined them all together. After a few makes we saw it was the same each time and that it didn’t change the look or the flavour of the desert. We used Licorice from Aldi as it was a bit softer than the Darryl Lea one, and only $2.00 for 200g.
Also, this size mixture only made 6 100ml Darioles. ?

Gastromony literally means 'lead by the stomach' which seems pretty apt for a food blog but mostly it's a play on the word gastronomy and my nickname Moni. I like to call this blog an adventure in cooking and the Thermomix, or gastronomy by Moni :)